The Owners - Strata Plan No. 70030 v Decon Australia Pty Ltd (No 2)

The plaintiffs, Owners - Strata Plan No. 70030, filed a lawsuit against Decon Australia Pty Ltd, the defendant, seeking damages for alleged breaches of contract and professional negligence. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of Queensland. The plaintiffs claimed that the defendant had failed to properly construct a strata title, resulting in numerous legal and financial issues for the owners of the strata units.

The central legal issue was whether the court should depart from the general rule that costs follow the event, and instead award costs as agreed or assessed. The plaintiffs argued that the defendant should be treated as a single defendant for the purposes of costs, in accordance with section 4 of the Suitors' Fund Act 1951. The defendant contested this argument, asserting that there were no grounds for treating them as a single defendant.

The court held that the defendant should be treated as one defendant for the purposes of costs, as the plaintiffs' claims were interconnected and based on a single transaction. The court granted a certificate under section 6 of the Suitors' Fund Act 1951, allowing the plaintiffs to seek costs as if the defendant had been treated as a single defendant. The court found that the plaintiffs had acted reasonably in pursuing their claims and that the defendant's conduct had been vexatious and oppressive. Accordingly, the court ordered that costs be assessed on an indemnity basis, rather than the usual costs as agreed or assessed. The defendant was also ordered to pay the plaintiffs' costs of the appeal.